Girl About Town

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It’s really nice to stare at a map and fantasize about all the places you’ll visit someday, but sometimes the best adventures can be found close to where you are. Over the past five years, due to lack of money and time, I’ve become an accidental expert at uncovering cool stuff in unexpected places. Here’s my guide to planning (or not planning) an awesome day of urban exploration, anywhere in the world, or right in your backyard:

Gear

Obviously, you don’t want to weigh your adventure down with a ton of baggage, but bringing along a few well-chosen tools will increase your potential for fun. A backpack is the best bag for exploring, because you can carry a bunch of stuff and still have both hands free. Here’s what I fill mine with for a day of intensive exploration:

A notebook and pen for writing down train times and food recommendations and any other tidbits of intelligence I might acquire.

A refillable water bottle and a little snack so that hunger- and thirst-related crankiness doesn’t interfere with my day.

A fully charged cell phone. I usually keep my phone turned off on days like these, but knowing you have a lifeline can provide peace of mind.

Enough cash to get public transit home, plus a little extra. Sometimes I split this up between my pocket and my backpack in the event that we get separated.

A sweater. But I just have that neurotic-Jewish-grandma-take-a-sweater-thing. You might not.

Obviously, you should add to this list to meet your needs. A raincoat when it calls for rain. Band-Aids if you think your shoes might rub. People argue over whether or not bringing a camera is a good idea. I probably bring one with me about half the time. Sometimes I get too caught up with documenting the day, though, and the camera actually detracts from my fun. Having pictures is nice, but I’ve learned that sometimes your brain is the best recorder.

Getting There

My best urban adventures start and end with public transit. People on trains are friendlier, and a long bus ride is a nice set of brackets for psyching yourself up or letting yourself decompress after a long day of exploration. Also, public transit is one of the cheapest ways to get around.

Lots of things about city exploration should be left to chance, but transit is not one of them. The night before your adventure, decide how you’ll be getting to and from the city. Print out the train or bus schedule and highlight the second-to-last ride home. This will be your getaway car. Spontaneity is good, but missing the last ride out of the city will take your day from great to stressful. Bank on the second-to-last departure and you’ll have a nice time buffer in case your adventure ends up running a bit longer than expected.

Getting Somewhere

When you get to the city, the first thing you’ll want to do is get a lay of the land. There are a handful of ways to go about doing this. Visitor’s centers, train station information desks, historical societies, and cool-, friendly-looking strangers (other teenage girls are probably your best bet) on the street are all great sources of info about interesting neighborhoods and sights worth seeing.

If you are at all like me, you are probably thinking, I can just look this stuff up on the internet. It doesn’t hurt to go online and read a little bit about a new city, but honestly, talking to people is the best way to find cool places. The internet can tell you what time things open and close, but it probably won’t share with you a wild anecdote about that one guy who hangs out at the newsstand on the corner, or an insider tip about where to get the best chai. Push yourself to talk to people, even if it feels a little awkward at first. Here are some good questions for starting conversations about local geography:

What’s your favorite bookstore in the city?

Where’s a nice place to sit down and drink a cup of coffee?

Are there any cool events going on right now that I should know about?

Do you know of any good thrift shops around here?

Where’s your favorite place to people watch?

What does this city have that other cities don’t?

Adventure Time

Once you’ve accumulated a nice list of recommendations, start your adventure. Your actual destination doesn’t matter so much as the neighborhood you’re headed toward does. Check out that bookstore the girl in the train station told you about, but don’t forget to keep an eye out for random stuff nearby. It’s really rare that one good place will exist in a wasteland of boredom. Most of the time, that bookstore will be situated near a rad vintage shop or a well-curated art space. Have an open mind about changing plans and checking out mysterious places. Especially look for signs directing you towards basement entryways and side doors. Smaller, weirder endeavors often thrive in crappier real estate.

Every place you uncover is a potential link to newer and cooler places. Ask store clerks and coffee shop patrons for their advice on where to visit. When I visit a city, I’m usually able to build an agenda by asking people at each consecutive place I visit where I should go next. Hand-drawn maps often make the best guides. Use your notebook for these.

Only wander as far as things feel safe or interesting. Unless you have explicit information otherwise, a poorly lit residential street probably isn’t going to yield some awesome attraction. People are a good sign that a place is safe and worth visiting. If you see a crowd, push your way in. If you’re walking and you suddenly find yourself alone, it’s probably time to turn around.

Nourishment

Feeding yourself on your urban adventure is a complicated thing, because it is the only element of the day (besides maybe transit) that requires money. If you’re trying to spend as little cash as possible, make some sandwiches at home and throw them in your backpack. Parks make the best free restaurants.

If you have some cash to burn, look for places with cheap prices and lots of people. It isn’t hard to eat great food on the cheap, but the best way to make sure you won’t be vomiting on the train ride home is to look for restaurants that are moving through a lot of food quickly. If you can, avoid eating at chains. I love Chipotle as much as the next person (probably more), but an adventure isn’t really an adventure unless you push yourself to try someplace new. Thai food, falafel, food trucks, and soup are all great, cheap options to look into, depending on the city you’re visiting. If you aren’t sure where to try, ask more strangers!

Chilling

Walking dozens of blocks and talking to as many strangers can be tiring; you might want to take a little bit of time out from your excursion to relax. Coffee shops, libraries, parks, and benches are all great places to people watch and decompress. If you are going to sit in a place that sells something, buy something cheap like a cookie off the menu. Throw your change in the tip jar and you probably won’t be rushed out of the establishment as soon as you finish eating.

Common Sense

I’m not going to insult your intelligence by telling you to look both ways before crossing the street, but I do feel obligated to pass on some the wisdom I’ve gathered through my own mistakes. You don’t have to take any of this advice, but here are some things I’ve learned in my adventures:

Don’t follow strangers back to their houses.

Don’t follow strangers anywhere that isn’t a public space.

Don’t get in someone’s car!

Stay aware of your surroundings.

Stay out of abandoned buildings.

Go to the bathroom when you have the chance to.

Don’t jaywalk unless you have a spare $200 you are looking to donate to the City of Houston.

Any kind of person can be dangerous, no matter what age or gender, but as an extra measure of safety don’t approach solo grown men, OK? It would just make us feel better.

Most of all, be open-minded. Use good judgment, but keep in mind that great things rarely happen in your comfort zone. Be aware. Peek around corners and down alleys. Trust your intuition. Don’t write something off as boring until you’ve given it a shot.

Yeahhh adventure! :) This was really helpful! I feel like you don’t really understand or appreciate your home-town until you’re a teenager with nothing to do… because that’s when you have the motivation to really explore some weird places!

For example, there was this giant area behind one of the libraries by my house, and if you went far enough into the forest, there was a giant creepy field which was used for beekeeping. Unfortunately, my friends and I found that out the hard way! It was still a lot of fun though, and I feel like I know a little “secret place” that I didn’t know before.

I’m not Dutch but my mom lives in Amsterdam so here are some ideas:
Visit the Negen straaten, awesome vintage boutiques etc but some shops are quite expensive..
If you’re interested in museums, art whatever go to the van gogh museum, the Anne frank house or the national gallery they are all great,
Places to chill: definitely vondel park all the students hang there, have bbqs etc. Or do a boat ride on the Grachten, the city is beautiful from the water :)
Have fun!!

How can you not be Dutch and live in the Netherlands nonetheless? :P Anyway it would be great to meet up with some fellow Rookie readers so maybe we could organize something! (Dear staff people reading this, I’m sorry if you guys don’t like us organizing meeting – we’ll do it all save, ok?)

Great tips, thank you!
Me and one of my friends often go on what we call “adventures”. We both live in a suburb outside of Stockholm (Yes, Sweden) so on our adventures we go in to town, and then just take the train to a random place that has a nice name or something like that.
When we get there we often just walk around, imagining what it would be like if we lived there. This has taken us to a lot of cool places and I think it’s a great way of exploring your hometown.
Fellow Rookies -adventure is out there!

This makes me so sad I don’t live even remotely close to a city… and where I live, you need a car to get anywhere… and my area doesn’t have public transit… *grumpface.* On the plus side, I’ll soon be going to college in a town where you can walk places!

I missed out on Adventure Time,so yesterday I found the episodes online…..I heard laughing for 15 seconds makes your life last for two more minutes or something..I laughed for ,like,an hour(no joke) on one part.IM IMMORTAL

Also I always head to public parks whenever I’m in a city on a beautiful day because I love to people watch. I’ve spent almost entire days lounging in Rittenhouse Square by accident because of just getting lost in watching people/dogs/mostly dogs. Just don’t go at night and make sure there are other people in the park. That would be creepers.

This is so me! Thankyou so much for this, me and my friend are planning to take a bus to the city this summer and have a day of roller-blading through the streets and thrifting. This made it even more exciting, praise the lord for Rookie/my bible

I’m feeling a white lacy/eyelet dress, round sunglasses, maybe a thin belt that matches the tan of the platforms (or highlight one of the colors of the flowers!!!), and maybe a delicate pendant necklace or two!

I don’t know of its the same in the states but here in Europe you should always take a student ID with you cause you can get free stuff, entrance fees and public transport!
I love exploring cities, this was awesome :)

That’s so true! I always ask regardless of if it is posted and depending upon the person working at the desk, I can sometimes finagle my way into a 10% discount. Try it! Especially if you chat it up and bemoan the fact that you had gym the period before and your hair is all frizzy in the picture, it will earn you sympathy points.

this is great. unfortunately, i’m stuck in suburbia. i have done some exploring–i can bike to 2 of my friends’ houses, the awesomest bagel shop outside of new york, the pizza parlor, the freaky asian food market, the library, the local coffee shop, and the church. but nobody else really explores and everything is just so far away… ugh. i hate my town.

These girls had an amazing adventure, and they were living in the suburbs! All you have to do now is find a celebrity’s cell phone! Haha x) I apologize I couldn’t find a good YouTube video, you could try renting it on Netflix. :) Besides renting this movie, you could also watch some National Geographic films. National Geographic has made a film in almost every country, with amazing views and information in them. It’s like exploring, except you don’t have to leave your couch! ^_^ If you not up to world-traveling, try drawing, painting, collaging, etc. of your “dream town”, or how you would improve your town. :) I hope hope I helped you stay adventurous, even if you’re stuck somewhere boring. ^_^ <3

Ooh, i love this<3
I used to go exploring in the woods and fields by my house with friends (always worrying whether we'd be chased by cows!!!)
I love finding hidden little shops that no one knows about which sell one off vintage clothes and jewellery and everything! Charity shops are amazing for exploring because you never know what you're gonna find – a few weeks back, i got a Chanel (yes, Chanel) cardigan for £9! So im obsessed with charity shops at the mo…..YAY-this is an amazing article:)

I guess I’ll just have to go somewhere tomorrow, thanks for the inspiration! I live in Prague and I always think I’ve seen every bit of it, but then I accidentally miss my destination by a tram stop or two and I suddenly find myself somewhere in the wilderness.

Ahhhh thank you for posting this!! I moved to Chicago this past year and have yet to legitimately explore the city and its neighborhoods because I’ve been pretty intimidated by the sheer size of it… But this is super helpful for knowing how to at least start going about it. :)

This is so great, I will totally be exploring more of Philly during the summer. I live in the suburbs and tend to only go to the city for concerts and then to grab a coffee before coming home. I now have inspiration!!

omg, this is perfect timing. i’m staying in seattle for a couple of days and though i’m having fun, i feel kind of lost on how to do things and what to do about it (i’m on my own and i don’t really know where to start). so this is very helpful. <3 thank you so much.

I honestly love you for this! You definitely inspired me to go visit the cities close to where I live. Because even though I live in the biggest city in my country, it gets boring here. It’s all the same!
So thank you very, very much. I’m planning trips to places I’ve never been before already :)

The only adventuring I’ve ever done with my friends is going to find an old air-raid shelter from WW2 (I think its an Anderson Shelter) in a field near my friends house… now I’ve read this article I’ll have to do some more exploring!

Uhrm, sorry to be awkwardly British here, but what’s jaywalking?
Awesome article btw! I’ll be using sone of theese tips when me and my friends explore London in the summer, it’s only a 30min train ride away!

The note about handwritten maps reminded me of when I was in Tokyo this past summer. I picked up a book, Tokyo on Foot, in a bookstore near my hotel. It was honestly the best decision ever! It’s a fat book written by a French man who stayed in Tokyo for 6 months or something, and he has all these hand drawn maps of every neighborhood, all the people he saw, all the places he went, and it’s quite awesome!

I really want to go exploring the city with a friend now! My parents said i have to wait till i’m 18 to go explore without an adult. =( But i’d probably be to scared to anyways! LOL I went on a fun adventure in chinatown last year with my family. It was really cool and we found this random thing on the sidewalk called the church of elvis! It was so crazy! I documented it here:

You may not read this Jamie, but today was one of the best days ever and it’s thanks to you. Me and my friend got a bus into town with about £10 between us ($15 to most of you I think) and it was just a really awesome day out. We went to art galleries, to the canals,we people watched, shared ice-cream and it was great. So, thanks. xxx